


Little Nightingale

by illustriousprotagonist



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 09:36:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4914445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illustriousprotagonist/pseuds/illustriousprotagonist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A summary of Karliah and Gallus's relationship, and how she felt upon hearing of his death; and then getting framed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Nightingale

     Lovers, they were. The two were madly in love, but were forced to keep it secret from the rest of the Guild, lest they be called out on a rule break; no personal feelings for another member of the Thieves Guild. They simply couldn’t take that chance.

    During their training sessions, Gallus would hone Karliah’s thieving abilities; sneaking, pickpocketing, lockpicking, etcetera. “Good job, little Nightingale!” he’d say to her, his voice dripping honey, whenever she would do something surprising or correct. They’d spend their afternoons practicing, his arms snaking around her when he showed her the correct way to hold a dagger and pull it out of her thigh sheath. Of course, those moments would usually lead to something more interesting, more intimate.

    On a particularly fateful day, Gallus and Mercer were out on a mission. Karliah was visiting a fence in another Hold. Karliah made the journey back, her feet aching from the rough terrain. She just wanted to be back in Riften, she wanted to be back in Gallus’s arms. The only time they were permitted to be together was during the training sessions, or at night, when everyone was asleep or keeping guard in the Flagon.

    Karliah pushed the button on the crypt in the cemetery, opening the hatch to the Guild antechamber and crawling down the ladder. When she entered the dank Cistern, everyone was waiting on the platform above the sewer water; everyone except for Gallus.

    “Where is Gallus?” she asked the Guild members.

    Vex’s voice was choked, “You know where he is, you traitor!”

    Karliah was taken aback by her statement. Brynjolf spoke up and raised his arm to silence her, “Quiet, Vex. You know where he is, Karliah. He’s dead, and Mercer, here, says he witnessed you kill him. Is this true?”

    Karliah’s eyes widened. Her heart pounded, her breath became ragged, “W-What? I-I don’t-...” She didn’t know what to say, or what to feel. “I would never-”

    “Karliah! Stop lying, I have all the proof right here!” Mercer said as he held up an arrow. The tip was stained red with blood. “You tried killing me, right after you killed Gallus.”

    “I-I didn’t… I would never… Stop, stop accusing me, please. I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t do-..” Karliah stuttered as tears filled her eyes. Anger, confusion, frustration, anguish, and many more emotions consumed her. She fled the Cistern as the Guild members came after her with daggers. They were chanting, “Death to the traitor, death to the traitor!” She scrambled up the ladder to the crypt as they clawed at her legs. She felt her boot come off as her leg was pulled and sliced. Karliah ran, she ran until the pain was too intense for her to bear.

    She looked up and saw she was in the middle of the forest, surrounded by thick, tall trees. Tears streamed down her face. Her eyes wandered to her leg. It was all cut up and bloody. A trail of blood dripped down her leg, into the grass. She realized her blood made a trail, right to her. Karliah ripped a part of cloth from her arm sleeve and tied it around the cut. She had to lose them. She couldn’t be caught and killed for something she didn’t even do.

    So she ran. Karliah ran, and ran, and ran, for what seemed like an eternity. Her breath was gone and she panted to regain oxygen in her lungs. Images flashed through her mind, images of Gallus and herself, and Mercer, and Brynj-

_Mercer_.

    She understood now. He always had an infatuation with his own idea of becoming Guildmaster. He needed a way to get that title, and what better way to get it than to kill the current one who holds the title? Of course, he would be caught and punished for killing someone, and killing the Guildmaster, no less. Mercer framed Karliah.

    One thing was certain to Karliah; she couldn’t go “home,” as if the Flagon was ever a “home” to her. Her only purpose, now, wasn’t to serve the Guild, but to find some evidence to convict Mercer. He killed her beloved, and he wasn’t going to get away with it. Even if she had to kill him herself, he would be punished. Karliah made it certain.


End file.
